Denver Public Library - Coloradohttps://www.denverlibrary.org/taxonomy/term/53/0
enDenver's Famous Dinosaurshttps://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/ross/denvers-famous-dinosaurs
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<a href="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/1280px-Stego-marsh-1896-US_geological_survey.png" rel="lightbox[][Reconstruction of Stegosaurus by O.C. Marsh]" class="imagefield imagefield-lightbox2 imagefield-lightbox2-thumbnail imagefield-field_blog_image imagecache imagecache-field_blog_image imagecache-thumbnail imagecache-field_blog_image-thumbnail"><img src="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/imagecache/thumbnail/1280px-Stego-marsh-1896-US_geological_survey.png" alt="Reconstruction of Stegosaurus by O.C. Marsh" title="" width="100" height="62"/></a> </div>
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<img class="imagefield imagefield-field_multiple_images" width="773" height="342" alt="&quot;Brontosaurus&quot; skeleton by O.C. Marsh, with the wrong head" src="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/brontosaurus.PNG?1425664146" /> </div>
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<img class="imagefield imagefield-field_multiple_images" width="479" height="480" alt="Triceratops horns discovered in Denver, identified as a bison" src="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/bison%20alticornis.JPG?1425667662" /> </div>
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<img class="imagefield imagefield-field_multiple_images" width="1116" height="644" alt="Illustration from a Scientific American article about Lakes&#039; discoveries" src="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/smithsonian_morrison_quarry%20%281%29.jpg?1425678789" /> </div>
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<p>Have you ever heard of <em>Triceratops</em>? How about <em>Stegosaurus</em>? "<em>Brontosaurus</em>"? Of course you have--they're some of the superstars of prehistory; depicted in countless picture books, cartoons, and roadside statues. Many eight-year-olds could give you a scholarly lecture about them. But what many Denverites&nbsp;don't know--even some of the eight-year-olds--is that all three of these dinosaur celebrities were first discovered right in our back yard. They're actually <em>local</em> celebrities, and their discoveries make for some pretty interesting reading.</p>
<p>The first big local dinosaur discovery happened in 1877. Arthur Lakes, a geologist and teacher at what would become the School of Mines, was exploring along the Dakota Hogback near Morrison, when he came upon "a monstrous vertebra...utterly beyond anything I had ever read or conceived possible." He began excavating the bones, and sent some of them to O.C. Marsh, a professor of paleontology at Yale. Marsh was lukewarm about the discoveries until Lakes <em>also</em> sent some bones to Marsh's arch-nemesis E.D. Cope (Marsh and Cope had a nasty, decades-long feud that became known as the Bone Wars).</p>
<p>Suddenly highly motivated, Marsh sent Lakes $100 and hired him to dig up dinosaur bones around Morrison. He named Lakes' first discovery&nbsp;<em>Titanosaurus montanus</em>, but then he realized the name "<em>Titanosaurus</em>" was already taken, so he changed it to <em>Atlantosaurus</em>. The <em>Atlantosaurus</em>&nbsp;bones turned out to be very similar to other large dinosaurs discovered soon after, so paleontologists still aren't sure if it's a distinct animal. But they are sure it was an exceedingly large one--the largest land animal known at the time of its discovery. One of its femurs, if whole, would have been seven feet long.</p>
<p>On the west side of what's now Dinosaur Ridge Trail, Lakes was the first to uncover bones of the genus Marsh named <em>Stegosaurus</em>. Marsh believed the great beast was probably aquatic (this was a mistake, and it wouldn't be his last.) Some of the <em>Stegosaurus</em> bones Lakes found can still be seen at the <a href="http://www.mnhm.org/246/Morrison-Natural-History-Museum">Morrison Natural History Museum</a>, and you can still see dinosaur bones in the rocks near the fossil quarry at <a href="http://www.dinoridge.org/">Dinosaur Ridge</a>. Recently, researchers from the Morrison Natural History Museum started re-examining some of Lakes' quarries, and found evidence of dinosaurs Lakes had missed, including <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5952318">baby <em>Stegosaurus</em> tracks</a>. You can see those at the Morrison museum, too. The smallest ones are the size of cat tracks. There aren't any tracks from the front legs, so it seems the babies walked around on their hind legs.</p>
<p>At Quarry 10, on the hillside right above Morrison, Lakes uncovered the first known <em>Apatosaurus</em>; a dinosaur most people know as Brontosaurus. The confusion is a result of Marsh giving the same animal two different names. After naming <em>Apatosaurus</em> ("Deceptive Lizard"), Marsh named another specimen <em>Brontosaurus</em> ("Thunder Lizard"). Later on, it became clear that <em>Brontosaurus</em> and <em>Apatosaurus</em> were the same creature. The rules of scientific naming dictate that the first name is the one that should be used, so <em>Apatosaurus</em> is correct, even if <em>Brontosaurus</em> sounds undeniably cooler. Adding to the confusion, Marsh thought the skull from another dinosaur belonged with Apatosaurus' body, so his drawings showed an <em>Apatosaurus</em> with the wrong name <em>and</em> the wrong head. Later, museums displayed <em>Apatosaurus</em> skeletons with inaccurate heads, and often labeled them "Brontosaurus." It's no wonder generations of kids grew up admiring the Brontosaurus, even though it never really existed.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The third famous dinosaur from the Denver area was discovered in the current city limits, in what's now Lakewood/Dry Gulch Park. In 1887, George Cannon, a teacher/geologist like Arthur Lakes, discovered part of a huge skull with a pair of horns. He sent the bones to O.C. Marsh, who decided it was a type of prehistoric bison, and named it <em><a href="http://marsh.dinodb.com/marsh/Marsh%201887%20-%20Notice%20of%20new%20fossil%20mammals.pdf">Bison alticornis</a></em>. Cannon was skeptical, because he believed the rocks where he had found the horns were far older than any bison. It turned out he was right. After more complete skulls of the same kind of creature started turning up, Marsh realized the horns belonged to a dinosaur, which he named <em>Triceratops</em>. Since then, several more <em>Triceratops</em> fossils have been found in the Denver area. If you go out to the <a href="http://www.dinoridge.org/tritrail.html">Triceratops Trail</a> in Golden, you can still see their tracks in rocks full of fossil palm fronds--evidence of a time when Colorado had a balmy climate like Florida's. It's really pretty amazing.</p>
<p>What's even more amazing, for my money, is that when<em> Triceratops</em> walked the earth, <em>Stegosaurus</em> and <em>Apatosaurus</em>&nbsp;were already long-extinct fossils. More time passed between <em>Stegosaurus</em> and <em>Triceratops</em> than between <em>Triceratops</em> and us. The dinosaurs had a long run. In fact, their run isn't over yet, because birds are the one branch of the dinosaur family tree that didn't go extinct. Today there are twice as many species of birds as mammals, so maybe the Age of Dinosaurs isn't quite over yet.</p>
<p>If you would like to learn more about Denver-area dinosaurs and their history, here are some good resources:</p>
<p><strong>Library Books:&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=361011">Dinosaurs, The Encyclopedia:</a> A technical guide to dinosaurs, with pictures of many of the key fossils. Library use only.</p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=374120">The gilded dinosaur : the fossil war between E D Cope and O C Marsh and the rise of American science</a></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=239491">Colorado's dinosaurs</a></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1043682">My beloved Brontosaurus : on the road with old bones, new science, and our favorite dinosaurs</a></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1185627">The Princeton field guide to dinosaurs</a></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=282554">Discovering dinosaurs in the Old West : the field journals of Arthur Lakes</a></p>
<p><strong>Young Adult Library Books:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=273359">Reading between the bones : the pioneers of dinosaur paleontology</a></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=566409">The Handy Dinosaur Answer Book</a></p>
<p><strong>Articles:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5952318">Baby Stegosaurus Tracks. Denver Post</a></p>
<p><a href="http://morrisonmuseum.blogspot.com/2010/12/arthur-lakes-dinosaurs-from-morrison.html">Jurassic Dinosaurs from Morrison, Colorado. Morrison Natural History Museum</a></p>
<p><a href="http://marsh.dinodb.com/marsh/Marsh%201887%20-%20Notice%20of%20new%20fossil%20mammals.pdf">Notice of New Fossil Mammals. American Journal of Science (Marsh's article identifying Triceratops as a bison)</a></p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=WIo9AQAAIAAJ&amp;lpg=PA375&amp;ots=hpH3DaENGq&amp;dq=%22antediluvian%20remains%20discovered%20in%20the%20rocky%20mountains%22%20scientific&amp;pg=PA375#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">Remains of Gigantic Antediluvians. Scientific American, June 15, 1878 (Contemporary article describing Lakes discoveries in Morrison)</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-triceratops-was-a-giant-bison-179449725/?no-ist">When Triceratops was a Giant Bison. Smithsonian Magazine</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/where-dinosaurs-roamed-36987235/?no-ist=">Where Dinosaurs Roamed</a></p>
<p><strong>Websites:&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/dinosaur/">PBS American Experience: Dinosaur Wars</a></p>
<p><a href="http://marsh.dinodb.com/">OC Marsh Papers</a></p>
<p><strong>Places to See Dinosaur Fossils around Denver</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.mines.edu/Geology_Museum">Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.dmns.org/">Denver Museum of Nature and Science</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.dinoridge.org/">Dinosaur Ridge</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.mnhm.org/246/Morrison-Natural-History-Museum">Morrison Natural History Museum</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.dinoridge.org/tritrail.html">Triceratops Trail</a></p>
<p><a href="https://cumuseum.colorado.edu/">University of Colorado Museum of Natural History</a></p>
https://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/ross/denvers-famous-dinosaurs#commentsResearch NewsColoradoDenverdinosaursFossilshistoryscienceMon, 09 Mar 2015 18:05:04 +0000Ross19656 at https://www.denverlibrary.orgForget Mercury Retrograde. Solar Storms are the Real Dealhttps://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/ross/forget-mercury-retrograde-solar-storms-are-real-deal
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<a href="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/CME_EIT_C2_2002_prev_0.jpg" rel="lightbox[][Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun (NASA image)]" class="imagefield imagefield-lightbox2 imagefield-lightbox2-thumbnail imagefield-field_blog_image imagecache imagecache-field_blog_image imagecache-thumbnail imagecache-field_blog_image-thumbnail"><img src="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/imagecache/thumbnail/CME_EIT_C2_2002_prev_0.jpg" alt="Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun (NASA image)" title="" width="100" height="96"/></a> </div>
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<p>Did you know Mercury is in retrograde right now? I didn't, until I saw people posting about it on social media sites. When I looked it up, I discovered that the planet Mercury sometimes appears to move backwards across the sky. People who believe in astrology think that when this happens, communications of all kinds--technological, interpersonal, you name it--go haywire (Mercury was the Roman god of messengers, after all, and he was a bit of a trickster). While apparent retrograde motion is a real phenomenon, astronomers say there's no scientific reason to think Mercury's motion should affect us.</p>
<p>It's still an interesting topic, though, and I was going to write about it, but then I saw that one of my DPL colleagues <a href="http://denverlibrary.org/blog/melanie/mercury-retrograde">already has</a>, when Mercury was in retrograde last year.</p>
<p>So I started wondering if there are things in outer space that <em>really do</em> mess with technology here on Earth. Is there something like Mercury retrograde, except that scientists take it seriously? It turns out there is, and it's a doozy.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Consider what happened on September 1st, 1859. Richard Carrington, an astronomer in England, was observing sunspots, when he suddenly saw a bright patch appear on the sun's surface, as though it were giving birth to a smaller, even brighter star. It was the first solar flare ever recorded. It was a big one, too, accompanied by a huge outburst of solar matter known as a coronal mass ejection. Nobody knew what that was at the time, but they were about to feel its effects.</p>
<p>Several hours after Carrington's observation, people around the world saw the night sky light up with brilliant auroras that could be seen as far south as Cuba. In the brand-new gold rush town of Denver, the Rocky Mountain News reported that the auroras woke up miners in the mountains. They thought the sun was rising, so they started making breakfast. It was midnight.</p>
<p>Auroras happen when the flow of charged particles from the sun--the so-called solar wind--interacts with Earth's magnetic field. That field is strongest at the poles, which is why auroras are usually seen only in the far north or south. But this wasn't a normal solar wind--it was a massive solar storm produced by the outburst Carrington had seen.</p>
<p>While most people just marveled at the auroras, telegraph operators were shocked--literally and figuratively--when their equipment began to spark and malfunction. When they unplugged their machines from their power sources, they found could still send messages, because the wires were soaking up energy from the charged atmosphere.&nbsp;</p>
<p>At first, nobody knew what had caused all the weird phenomena. Even Richard Carrington, the astronomer who had observed the solar flare that preceded the geomagnetic storm, was reluctant to say the juxtaposition&nbsp;was more than coincidence. Like any good scientist, he wanted more data. Eventually, though, it became clear that the great geomagnetic storm of 1859 was caused by eruptions on the face of the sun, 93 million miles away.</p>
<p>Back then, when electrical communication and power was just getting started, what became known as the Carrington Event didn't cause a lot of harm. Today, it would be different. The famous insurance company Lloyd's of London <a href="http://www.lloyds.com/~/media/lloyds/reports/emerging%20risk%20reports/solar%20storm%20risk%20to%20the%20north%20american%20electric%20grid.pdf">estimated</a> that a geomagnetic storm of this magnitude today would knock out power grids and communication satellites, causing a cascade of disruption that could lead to serious social unrest and food shortages. Daniel Baker, at the University of Colorado's <a href="http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/">Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics</a>, told <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/">National Geographic</a>,&nbsp;"Imagine large cities without power for a week, a month, or a year. The losses could be $1 to $2 trillion, and the effects could be felt for years."</p>
<p>Nothing like the Carrington Event has hit Earth since 1859, but smaller solar storms have caused real problems. &nbsp;A much smaller solar storm in 1989 caused a major blackout in Quebec. In 2012, astronomers watched a <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm/">solar storm</a> just as big as the one in 1859. Luckily, it came from a place on the sun that wasn't currently pointed at the Earth. As Dr. Baker in Boulder put it,&nbsp;"Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did. If the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire."</p>
<p>That sounds like something out of a Michael Bay disaster movie, but it's actually quite real. That's one reason there's a Space Weather Prediction Center up the road in Boulder. It's also why a rocket is sitting on the launch pad as I write, about to launch a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/science/warning-system-for-solar-storms-is-kept-on-earth-for-now.html?_r=0">new satellite</a> to watch for solar storms. Scientists are realizing how important it is to be ready for another outburst from the sun. Unlike Mercury being in retrograde, solar storms are something they take very seriously.</p>
<p>If you'd like to learn more about solar storms and space weather, here are some useful resources:</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/">What If the Biggest Solar Storm on Record Happened Today?</a> <em> National Geographic</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm/">Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012</a> <em>NASA Science News</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/05/1859s-great-auroral-stormthe-week-the-sun-touched-the-earth/2/">1859’s “Great Auroral Storm”—The Week the Sun Touched the Earth</a> Ars Technica</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/"><strong>Space Weather Prediction Center</strong></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/science/warning-system-for-solar-storms-is-kept-on-earth-for-now.html?_r=0"><strong>Dscovr, Warning System for Solar Storms, Still on Earth as SpaceX Launch Is Halted</strong></a></p>
<p><strong>The Aurora. Rocky Mountain News. September 17, 1859. Available on microfilm in DPL's Western History Collection</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1118815"><strong>Our Sun: Biography of a Star</strong></a></p>
<p><a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&amp;cn=1008018"><strong>Solar Storms</strong></a></p>
https://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/ross/forget-mercury-retrograde-solar-storms-are-real-deal#commentsResearch NewsAstronomyColoradohistorysciencespacesunTue, 10 Feb 2015 01:00:59 +0000Ross19115 at https://www.denverlibrary.orgWraithhttps://www.denverlibrary.org/review/wraith
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<p>Did you like NOS4A2? Like horror comics? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, give Wraith a shot. Joe Hill moves between the worlds of traditional books and graphic novels quite a lot, and here he connects them. Wraith tells the story of Charlie Manx, the ominous presence in NOS4A2, and his Rolls Royce Wraith, and of their beginnings, and of the origin of Christmasland. While NOS4A2 can be read as a standalone, I'm not sure about Wraith--someone would have to read it out of context and let us all know. Wraith is creepy, fully of violence, and jumps around in time (bonus: much of it takes place in Colorado). It also hints at the mystical good on the other side of all the evil. Sit back and enjoy the ride.</p>
https://www.denverlibrary.org/review/wraith#commentsbackstorycarsColoradohistoryorigin storiesComicsFictionGraphic NovelsHorrorWed, 03 Sep 2014 10:08:00 +0000Becker17108 at https://www.denverlibrary.org2014 Colorado Book Awardshttps://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/bobby/2014-colorado-book-awards
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<p>Earlier this month, the <a href="http://www.coloradohumanities.org/content/2014-colorado-book-awards">Colorado Book Award winners</a> were announced at a ceremony in Aspen by <a href="http://www.coloradohumanities.org/">Colorado Humanities</a>. To be eligible, authors had to be Colorado residents or their work must have been strongly influenced by Colorado. With 16 categories, there is something for everyone. Congrats to all the <a href="http://www.coloradohumanities.org/content/2014-colorado-book-awards">winners</a> and click on the links below to request these excellent reads (or see the<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?brs=71504&amp;sort=TI"> full set</a>)!</p>
<p><strong>Biography</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1050702"><em>Ernest L. Blumenschein: The Life of an American Artist</em> by Robert W. Larson and Carole B. Larson</a></p>
<p><strong>Children’s Literature</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1223344"><em>The Tumbleweed Came Back</em> by Carmela LaVigna-Coyle and Kevin Rechin</a></p>
<p><strong>Creative Nonfiction</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1025747"><em>Animal, Mineral, Radical: Essays on Wildlife, Family, and Food</em> by BK Loren</a></p>
<p><strong>General Nonfiction</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1040749"><em>Tasting Colorado: Favorite Recipes from the Centennial State</em> by Michele Morris</a></p>
<p><strong>Genre Fiction</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1073088"><em>Changes</em> by Pamela Nowak</a></p>
<p><strong>Historical Fiction</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1220245"><em>The Drowning Guard: A Novel of the Ottoman Empire</em> by Linda Lafferty</a></p>
<p><strong>History</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1068509"><em>Denver Mountain Parks: 100 Years of the Magnificent Dream</em> by Erika D. Walker, Wendy Rex-Atzet, Sally L. White, W. Bart Berger, Thomas J. Noel and John Fielder</a></p>
<p><strong>Juvenile Literature</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1112050"><em>Grave Images</em> by Jenny Goebel</a></p>
<p><strong>Literary Fiction</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1251929"><em>Little Raw Souls</em> by Steven Schwartz</a></p>
<p><strong>Memoir</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1041653"><em>I Promise Not to Suffer: A Fool for Love Hikes the Pacific Crest Trail</em> by Gail D. Storey</a></p>
<p><strong>Mystery</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1041047"><em>Desperado: A Mile High Noir</em> by Manuel Ramos</a></p>
<p><strong>Pictorial</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1120650"><em>Firmament: A Meditation of Place in Three Parts</em> by Andrew Beckham</a></p>
<p><strong>Poetry</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1220406"><em>Natural Takeover of Small Things</em> by Tim Z. Hernandez</a></p>
<p><strong>Poetry/Chapbook</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1251930"><em>Ndewo, Colorado</em> by Uche Ogbuji</a></p>
<p><strong>Thriller/Suspense</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1113632"><em>Double Dare</em> by Michael Madigan</a></p>
<p><strong>Young Adult Literature</strong><br />
<a href="http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=1229297"><em>Ascendant</em> by Rebecca Taylor</a></p>
<p>Interested in submitting your work for next year’s awards or to become a volunteer reader?&nbsp; Contact 2015 Program Coordinator Stephanie March at <a href="mailto:stephanie@coloradohumanities.org">stephanie@coloradohumanities.org</a>.</p>
https://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/bobby/2014-colorado-book-awards#commentsBooks BlogawardsColoradoLocal AuthorFri, 27 Jun 2014 17:15:54 +0000Bobby16413 at https://www.denverlibrary.orgWhat the Frack?https://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/what-frack
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<a href="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/Piceance Basin CO Tim Hurst.jpg" rel="lightbox[][drilling rig, pipe, &amp; well pad - Piceance Basin, CO. Photo by Tim Hurst]" class="imagefield imagefield-lightbox2 imagefield-lightbox2-thumbnail imagefield-field_blog_image imagecache imagecache-field_blog_image imagecache-thumbnail imagecache-field_blog_image-thumbnail"><img src="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/imagecache/thumbnail/Piceance%20Basin%20CO%20Tim%20Hurst.jpg" alt="drilling rig, pipe, &amp; well pad - Piceance Basin, CO. Photo by Tim Hurst" title="" width="100" height="67"/></a> </div>
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<img class="imagefield imagefield-field_multiple_images" width="500" height="388" alt="hydraulic fracturing diagram" src="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/fracking_diagram.jpg?1398101973" /> </div>
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<img class="imagefield imagefield-field_multiple_images" width="1098" height="1008" alt="Map of number of wells per county in Colorado" src="https://www.denverlibrary.org/files/Colorado_fracking_WEB.jpg?1398102360" /> </div>
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<p>What’s all this fuss about "fracking" and why should we care?<br />
In honor of Earth Day (4/22) and the earth’s capacity to support life, including our own, let's begin to “drill” into this phenomenon of hydraulic fracturing.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, hydraulic fracturing is a method of extracting oil or gas from rock layers deep underground. This involves drilling a well into the shale layer where geologists have identified oil or gas deposits. Water mixed with silica and a large number of chemicals is then forced into this layer under high pressure in order to create fissures in the rock to release the oil or gas so it can flow up the well and be captured at the surface and further processed and transported to end users.</p>
<p>To get a sense of what this involves join us <a href="http://denverlibrary.org/event/film-gasland-part-ii-2013">tonight</a> (<strong>Monday 4/21 at the Central Library at 6:30 p.m.</strong>) to view Josh Fox' <a href="http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/">Gasland Part II</a>. You can also visit Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Noble Energy's 501(c)6 <a href="http://studyfracking.com/what-is-fracking/">website</a>, "Study Fracking" to view diagrams and read their explanation of the process.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_24721419/new-oil-boom-lurks-denver-julesburg-basin">fracking boom</a> is currently taking place in Colorado especially in Weld county. It has been lauded as a boost to the Colorado economy by providing jobs and financial rewards to those leasing their land and those companies extracting the oil and/or gas. In the case of natural gas the industry claims that it is a cleaner source of fossil fuel energy than coal and that local production of this fuel means more energy independence for the United States.</p>
<p>But not everyone embraces this new found fossil fuel wealth in our state. A number of municipalities have recently passed bans or moratoriums on fracking within their confines. In addition, petitions will be circulating this summer to put anti-fracking or “local control over fracking decisions” on the November <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_25567240/colorado-oil-drilling-boom-intensifies-voter-initiatives-multiply">ballot</a>.</p>
<p>A number of local environmental issues have been raised. This includes: <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/ci_20206688/colorado-study-finds-fracking-risks-nearby-residents">air quality</a> in communities located close to fracking wells; toxic <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22586154/water-fouled-fracking-chemicals-spews-near-windsor">fracking water</a> leaks; <a href="http://blogs.denverpost.com/thebalancesheet/2012/11/14/aging-pipelines-hurdles-growth-natural-gas/7265/">pipeline leaks</a> especially during the catastrophic <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_24132296/oil-spill-along-st-vrain-river-near-platteville">September floods</a> of 2013; <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_25089583/when-drought-occurs-fracking-and-farming-collide">water use</a> in the fracking process in arid Colorado; <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-15/radioactive-waste-booms-with-oil-as-new-rules-mulled.html">waste storage</a> issues such as those raised in North Dakota's fracking boom; and <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_24753680/drilling-area-water-found-contain-hormone-disrupting-chemicals">hormone disrupting health impacts</a> of chemicals involved in the fracking process.</p>
<p>In addition to these potential local level problems there is the meta-concern of climate change. Carbon molecules released during the extraction, production and consumption of fossil fuels is trapping the sun's radiant heat in the earth's atmosphere and oceans resulting in a higher frequency of extreme weather events including an increase in average summer temperatures and drought patterns. In a recently released <a href="http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2014/04/mitigation-of-climate-change-part-3-of-the-new-ipcc-report/">report</a>, the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change), states that we have a 10-15 year window to make the transition from a fossil fuel based energy system to one based on renewables (wind, solar, hydro) in order to avert catastrophic climate change. <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719">Recent findings</a> also conclude that 80% of fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground to avert climate change disaster for humans and other species. Furthermore, a <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/04/10/1316546111.abstract">report</a> released last month has measured a much larger degree of methane release in the fracking process in Pennsylvania than originally thought. Methane's impact on heating up the earth's atmosphere in the short term is substantially greater than that of carbon.</p>
<p>I will save economic arguments, pros and cons, as well as a discussion of DPL's collection regarding hydraulic fracturing for future blogs. In the meantime come down to the <strong>Central Library this evening, April 21 at 6:30 p.m.,</strong> if you can, to view <strong>Gasland II</strong>. I look forward to a robust conversation on fracking in the months to come!</p>
https://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/what-frack#commentsResearch Newsclimate changeColoradoenvironmentFrackingGasland IIhydraulic fracturingMon, 21 Apr 2014 19:45:40 +0000evi15469 at https://www.denverlibrary.orgDeVotchKa live with the Colorado Symphonyhttps://www.denverlibrary.org/review/devotchka-live-colorado-symphony
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<p>With this album I feel Devotchka reached a new height. The combination of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the live recording makes for an intimate feel and really displays the expertise of the members of Devotchka. It’s also an endearing dose of Colorado talent; the 303 Children’s Choir even makes an appearance.&nbsp; I really appreciate when musicians are even better live than their recorded albums as to me it shows their musicianship, and this album is a perfect example of that. The songs having been adapted to the symphony seem to have grown and given vocalist Nick Urata license to open up and explore, I was impressed by his live performance.</p>
https://www.denverlibrary.org/review/devotchka-live-colorado-symphony#comments303 Childrens ChoircabaretColoradoColorado Symphony Orchestraindieindie folkIndie RockClassicalFolkPopRockFri, 28 Feb 2014 00:38:27 +0000Porscha14696 at https://www.denverlibrary.orgCowboys are my weakness : storieshttps://www.denverlibrary.org/review/cowboys-are-my-weakness-stories
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<p>I first picked up this collection of short stories when I was in college, after reading “How to Talk to a Hunter” in one of my creative writing classes and thinking it was clever. I wasn’t super excited to read what seemed to me to be just “relationship stories,” so I put it down. I dove back into it this last month with the intention to persevere and just finish, and I quickly realized that I had done this book a huge disservice with my assumptions. Yes, these stories focus on relationships, but they’re much more than that. They’re told in first person, and you’re going along, following these women and her romantic troubles with some type of&nbsp; “cowboy” or another when <em>boom </em>Pam Houston just lays some <em>truth </em>on you. Her characters are so strong, not because they can backpack and hunt and just basically get things <em>done </em>(which a lot of these characters can, but not all), but because they make choices and they own them, even if they are ill-advised. I would recommend this book to those who like short stories, stories about women, or stories about the west.</p>https://www.denverlibrary.org/review/cowboys-are-my-weakness-stories#commentsColoradoFeminismrelationshipsFictionShort StoriesWesternWed, 19 Feb 2014 18:58:41 +0000Em14480 at https://www.denverlibrary.orgWhite firehttps://www.denverlibrary.org/review/white-fire
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<p>The latest of the FBI Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child in which the authors take on an old mining story and combine it with current crimes being committed in Roaring Fork, Colorado, a very wealthy ski resort.&nbsp; The authors are not very subtle in their description of this Aspen like town. A good mystery and suspense novel with enough historical fact that the reader may want to look into Colorado mining history.</p>https://www.denverlibrary.org/review/white-fire#commentsColoradohistoryMiningmysterySuspenseMysteryThrillerSun, 16 Feb 2014 21:51:29 +0000lisab14419 at https://www.denverlibrary.orgThe Cherokee trail : a novelhttps://www.denverlibrary.org/review/cherokee-trail-novel
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<p>The new stagecoach stationmaster on the Cherokee trail knows how to care for livestock, command respect, and work a weapon. &nbsp;Her name is Mary Breydon, and she came all the way from the east coast to take the position as stationmaster, in her dead husband's place. &nbsp;Folks aren't expecting a woman there, and don't take too kindly to it; most don't think she'll be tough enough for the job. &nbsp;When she ousts the former station manager with a bullwhip, though, she earns the respect and admiration of the townspeople. &nbsp;She needs it, too: it's none too easy running the station, caring for her daughter and a wayward boy she's taken in, and defending against horse theft. &nbsp;However, the biggest danger she must face is Jason Flandrau, the no-good war criminal who murdered Mary's husband. &nbsp;He's back and angling to become the governor of the Colorado territory, and Mary must see that justice is served.</p>
<p>This fast-paced story of resilience and revenge will grab you from the first page. &nbsp;Mary's unconventional life is one you'll want to read more about, and the supporting characters are interesting and likeable. &nbsp;Not sure westerns are your thing? &nbsp;Well, neither was I, until this book. &nbsp;Give it a try!</p>
https://www.denverlibrary.org/review/cherokee-trail-novel#commentsColoradoDenverWesternSat, 01 Feb 2014 18:44:11 +0000Shanna14092 at https://www.denverlibrary.orgButcher's Crossinghttps://www.denverlibrary.org/review/butchers-crossing-0
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<p>A literary western, <em>Butcher's Crossing</em> tells the story of Harvard dropout Will Andrews, who heads west to "see as much of the country as [he] can" after being inspired by a lecture by Ralph Waldo Emerson.&nbsp; Will finds himself in Butcher's Crossing, Kansas, where he hooks up with a grizzled frontiersman named Miller who's been planning a huge buffalo hunt in the Colorado Rockies for close to a decade.&nbsp; With Will's savings funding the journey, he, Miller, and two other men embark on a hunt that no one but the hunters themselves believe will be successful.</p>
<p><em>Butcher's Crossing </em>was very well-written and enjoyable, even for people who don't generally read westerns, but much of the plot was spoiled by the publisher's blurb on the back cover.&nbsp; If you decide to check this out, do yourself a favor and avoid the blurb and the introduction.&nbsp; I would've found the book a lot more suspenseful if I'd done that.</p>
https://www.denverlibrary.org/review/butchers-crossing-0#commentsbuffalo huntingColoradoFrontier and Pioneer lifekansasnyrb classicsold westHistorical FictionWesternTue, 28 Jan 2014 20:22:56 +0000Jennifer B.14042 at https://www.denverlibrary.org